Degree Without Debt

Dartmouth has occasionally been in recruiting battles with Davidson College, the fine national liberal arts school in North Carolina and the sense here is that the Ivy League school has won more than it lost in those skirmishes. That may not be the case in the future. From the News & Observer:

"Davidson College will eliminate loans from its financial-aid packages, enabling those students to graduate without debt, college officials announced Monday.

"The move, expected to cost Davidson $3.5 million a year, follows the lead of some Ivy League universities but is apparently a first among the nation's prominent liberal arts colleges."

Tuition, room and board at Davidson this year is $38,784. From the Davidson release:

Last spring the college was able to cap loans at $3,000 per year. Prior to that, loans could total as much as $19,000 during a student’s four-year enrollment at Davidson.

In case you are wondering, Dartmouth and Davidson played a home-and-home football series in 1987 and '88. Dartmouth won the first game, 38-7, and followed with a 24-3 win the next fall. Davidson was a charter member of the Patriot League.

Today's Valley News has a story about tailback Chad Gaudet's long battle back from a devastating knee injury suffered on the first play of the opening game two years ago against Colgate. Gaudet, who had the "top bit of tibia just below the knee" sheared off according to the story, is back playing lacrosse for the Big Green. Regarding a possible return to football as a senior next fall, Gaudet told the newspaper, "The doctor's not against it ... but he's like, it might not be in your best interest. That being said, I was recruited to play football here. I'd love to get back out there."

Gaudet went on to say that for as much as he wants to play, "I don't want to just be an attraction. ... I want to be a contributor. I don't think I could settle for anything less."

One more note on sports (of sorts): A regular reader sent along a link to an enterprise called TicketReserve. If I'm reading it right, the business allows you to buy and sell ticket futures against the chance that your team makes it to the BCS championship game, the Final Four, the Super Bowl, etc.. Jack Kemp is on the board of directors.

Outside of sports, there's a provocative opinion piece in a number of newspapers this morning dealing with "a study that finds a consistent pattern of Ivy League and other elite colleges and universities boosting their black student populations by enrolling large numbers of immigrants from Africa, the West Indies and Latin America." That piece can be found here.